It looks like Microsoft relented in the tussle to transform how people use Windows with the "Metro" modern UI Start Screen. Analysts attributed lukewarm adoption of Windows 8 to the lack of a Start Menu, which lends the operating system a rather steep learning curve. UI enhancement companies such as Stardock may have rolled out $5 Start Menu emulators, but such emulators are still paid software, and a majority of consumers aren't aware of their existence.

With Windows 8.1 "Blue," Microsoft is rumored to not only allow users to bypass modern UI and boot straight to Desktop, but also bring back Start Menu, at least the way in which it's implemented on older Windows versions. You could see the return of a Start button on the taskbar, on clicking it, you could get a menu not unlike that of Windows 7, which doesn't eat up the entire screen, at least that's the kind of implementation that Microsoft is criticized for not implementing in Windows 8.

All that remains to be seen is if Windows 8.1 is a service pack to Windows 8, in which current users of Windows 8 upgrade for free; or if Microsoft has the audacity to brand it as a separate product, making current Windows 8 users pay to upgrade, in which case, the $5 Start8 from Stardock, and class-action lawsuits against Microsoft sound like better options.